The Giants need to advance.
The Lotte Giants’ first half ended on a disappointing note as they finished in the top five. Their final record in the first half was 38 wins and 39 losses in 77 games.
With a winning percentage of 0.494, the Giants are one game shy of the fifth spot, one game behind the fourth-place NC Dinos and 3.5 games behind the third-place Doosan Bears.
However, compared to the beginning of the season, Lotte’s current position has dropped considerably. They were in contention for the top three spots in April with a winning percentage of 1 (14-8, 0.636) and May with a winning percentage of 3 (13-9, 0.591). The team lost its early momentum and struggled in June, going 9-16 (0.360) and 2-6 (0.250) in July.
As a result, the gap between Lotte and the leaders LG Twins is now 10 games and 7.5 games between them and second-place SSG Landers. A realistic goal for the second half of the season could be to climb as high as possible while safely securing a top-five finish.
Over the course of a season, there will inevitably come a point where a team’s slump becomes a downward spiral. The problem is that for Lotte, that period is getting longer. Since June, Lotte has gone 11-22 for a .333 winning percentage, with only the last-place Samsung Lions (11-23) losing more games in the same period.
Even if you’re not in a position to criticize Lotte’s recent struggles, the win-loss margin shows that the team is in desperate need of a rebound and a turnaround.
Lotte’s overall metrics have also stagnated since June. Their team ERA is 5.31, which is dead last in the division, and their team OPS is 0.658, which is also dead last in the division. To put it bluntly, for about a month and a half, Lotte was the weakest team in the KBO.
At this point, it’s hardly worth pointing out the poor performance of some of their foreign pitchers or the manager’s failure to make the right moves. In conclusion, Lotte will need a turning point to turn the tide, along with an awakening of the entire roster.메이저놀이터
And the short All-Star break, which doesn’t get much longer than that during the season, was likely a time to recharge Lotte’s batteries after a hot April and May that saw the team’s “momentum” wane in June and July.
Looking at the results of Lotte’s recent slump, it’s easy to see the crisis. On the flip side, however, the fact that Lotte is in a tight top-five race as we head into the second half of the season is a testament to their strong start.
Emotionally, the first half of the season is bound to be disappointing, but the disappointment that comes from the expectation that they could have done better is also a sign that they have the potential to pick up the momentum in the second half.
And in the second half, what Lotte needs is a giant’s march. They need to get back to the kind of form they showed at the beginning of the season, with a nine-game winning streak (4.20-5.2), and they need to raise the team’s spirits. Instead of feeling pressure to win, Lotte will need the desire to win without question in the second half of the season.